Traversing mechanism for turrets



www

Mmch EL B936. H. w. EVANS TRAVERSING MECHANISM FOR TURRETS Filed July ll, 1935 Inventur' r Harald WTEvaTLS AttmrTLE y Mwww latentecl Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES Application July 11,

1 Claim.

1935, Serial No. 30,860

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30,

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a traversing mechanism for a turret.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a simple and compact turret traversing mechanism in which a clutch is introduced into a system of gearing which includes an actuating handle that is normally secured against rotation.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements described hereinafter and pointed out in the claim forming a part of this specification.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a traversing mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are views on the corresponding lines of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing another arrangement of the clutch.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference, there is shown a support 5 having a rail 6 whereby a member such as a turret I is rotatably mounted through rollers 8.

The traversing mechanism for rotating the turret comprises a bracket 9 fixed to the inner wall of the turret and including a gear case I which extends underneath a rack I I on the underside of the rail 6 and is in the form of a trough best shown in Fig. 3.

A shaft I2 extending through the gear case is mounted on antifriction bearings I3-i3 and is held in place by a flange I4 on one of its ends and a nut I5 on the other end. The shaft carries a pinion IB which is mounted on rollers I6a and meshes with the rack II. The inner side of the pinion is provided with teeth I7 adapted to be engaged by teeth I8 on a clutch member I9 which is slidably mounted on the shaft I2 through splines 20.

The clutch member I9 has the usual groove 2| for the fork 22 of a shifting lever 23. The pivot 24 of the lever is inserted from the bottom of the gear case and the lever extends horizontally of the case. The lever is held in positions of adjustment by a latch 25 which is engageable with a keeper plate 26.

A crank handle 21 is mounted on a pivot pin 28 which passes through apertured ears 29-29 formed near the periphery of the flange I4 of the shaft I2. A spring 30 housed in an axial is held against rotation. from the keeper plate inwardly. The shifting that it does not interfe crank handle.

The lug is disengaged by pressing the handle lever 23 is arranged so re with rotation oiI the In the modification shown in Fig. 4 a gear case 55 fixed to the turret 3B carries a drive shaft 3i and a driven shaft 38. A sliding lgear 3S on the drive shaft is moved int o and out of mesh with a spur gear 4G on the driven shaft by means of a shifting lever ill.

The lever i is disposed in the upper part oi the gear case and in either of its two positions of adjustment it does not interfere with a handle 42 o n the drive shaft. The

particular means for locking this handle against rotation forms no part of this invention and is therefore not shown. The driven shaft 38 also carries a pinion i3 meshing with a rack t on a support 45.

In the arrangements shown in both Figs. l and 4 the shifting lever is conveniently positioned so that it may be readily grasped by the operator of the crank handle.

Referring to Fig. 1 the turret is normally locked against rotation during travelling by having the clutch I9 engaged with the pinion i5 and the lug 33 of the crank handle 27 engaged with the keeper plate 34. When it is desired to rotate the turret through the gearing the crank handle is pressed inwardly to free and it is then rotated.

it from the keeper plate When it is desired to rotate the turret by merely pushing it, the shifting lever 23 is iirst actuated to disconnect the gearing. The crank handle 2i remains secured and the only operation the turret is to reengage I claim:

A support having a rack, a turret rotatably mounted on the support, turret and extending underneath the support, a

necessary to again lock the gearing.

a gear case fixed to the shaft mounted in the case, a pinion loose on the shaft and meshing with the rack, a clutching member keyed to the shaft and slidable into and out of driving engagement with the pinion, a

shifting lever for said member,a handle for actuating the drive shaft and means for securing the handle against rotation.

HAROLD W. EVANS. 

